We Passed!
Well it's official! I received the word today that we can call our wines "Côtes-du-Rhône". I was supposed to hear on Friday, but when I called they said that there was a problem and I would have to call the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine- the French Appellations Institute, or the big cheese when it comes to giving the go ahead.) Geez! I couldn't figure out what it could be. I called right away, thinking it was that we had vinified our wine outside of the "Côtes-du-Rhône" appellation (for which I have received special permission). After I explained who I was and why I was calling, I got a very nice man on the phone who told me that the problem was that I hadn't written the appellation on each of the vats (meaning the words "Côtes-du-Rhône on each tank)! Luckily, he was pretty laid back and told me that if I promised to do it that he would go ahead and put the paper-work through, and that someday soon, he would stop by to verify that it had been done. So there you have it, we can now officially bottle our wine under the label "Côtes-du-Rhône". Even more exciting, I finally got through to the bottling truck, and scheduled the date, June 7th it is! Only 3 weeks away! Here's a mock up of the label, what do you think?
Congrats on successfully navigating the French bureaucracy and on a fabulous looking label!
Posted by: Josh | May 16, 2006 at 05:36 AM
Beautiful label! Congratulations on getting the appellation designation. I'm sure it's no easy feat.
Posted by: Trish | May 17, 2006 at 06:51 PM
I think it looks great! Good job. Simple and clean, but it still communicates everything. As much as I like the label, what I really want to to drink my first bottle!
Posted by: Craig Camp | June 04, 2006 at 04:35 AM
The label--it's a corker, ha ha. Very nice. I'd buy it. If I could find it...
Posted by: Terry Hughes | June 12, 2006 at 02:44 AM